Stonington shop finishes out the new Killshot, a 49-foot Mussel Ridge

Oceanville Boatworks in Stonington, Maine, launched the Killshot, a 49' 11" Mussel Ridge for a South Bristol, Maine, lobsterman in September. Though with its stern deck extension, referred to as a beavertail, the Killshot measures about 54 feet on deck.

What would become the Killshot arrived at Oceanville Boatworks as a bare hull.

“We did all the finish work inside and all the decks,” says the boatyard’s Dale Haley.

The Killshot was finished off with all composite construction. The only wood in the boat is mahogany trim inside the wheelhouse. That’s combined with Formica paneling in the wheelhouse that “almost looks like stone work,” Haley says. “It came out looking nice.” The wheelhouse, which Haley describes as huge, has a galley and places to sit.

A first for Oceanville Boatworks was the installation of a Canadian-style pot hauler that instead of being mounted on the bulkhead below the windshield is set about 6 feet back from the window. “He just likes that style,” Haley says of the boat’s owner. For power, the Killshot has a 750-hp Volvo that generates a cruising speed of about 16 knots.

Below the main deck are three lobster tanks, enough room to store 38 lobster crates. The middle tank is insulated for ice since the Killshot’s owner also goes rod-and-reel tuna fishing. There’s also a live well and a rope locker to receive line from the hauler.

In November, the crew at Oceanville Boatworks was helping Bobby Jones Jr., a local Stonington lobsterman, finish off his Bounty Hunter IV, a 44 Calvin that Jones had started building on his own. He did the basic design and fiberglass work and then brought it to Oceanville Boatworks, where the hull was faired and Awlgripped; the rails, hatches and windows installed; and rubber flooring put down.
“We are just doing the cosmetics, all the trinkets,” Haley explains.

Billings Diesel & Marine in Stonington installed the Bounty Hunter IV’s 1,400-hp MAN diesel. With that amount of power, “he’s just looking to save time getting out there and back, and thinking he won’t have to work the engine nearly as hard to cruise at a fairly decent speed,” Haley says, adding that “he will probably race once in a while” in the Maine Lobster Boat Racing circuit.

In December, the hull and top for an Osmond 50 lobster boat from H&H Marine in Steuben, Maine, is due to arrive at Oceanville Boatworks, where one of the first tasks will be to install its 1400-hp MAN engine.